Before The Districts
by CelticGames4
Summary: We all know what happened during and after the Hunger Games... But how exactly did America become Panem in the first place? Follow Emily Fletcher and her family through generations and generations from the life we know today to the beginning of the Dark Days.


**CHAPTER ONE: America**

**Emily Fletcher: Pennsylvania, USA**

The land of the free and the home of the brave. Yep, that's us.

I love our fine country. It's free, it's very brave.

Allow me to introduce myself: I am Emily Fletcher. I live in the United States of America, in the state of Pennsylvania. I live a little city right near Pittsburgh, and even though we only rarely get to the city, I think it's awesome. The buildings are huge, and it's especially pretty at night, I think.

But I like my town, too. We have a big house with a big forest right behind.

I like to spend a lot of my time writing. I draw concept art for my fiction masterpieces, and, though some of it just plain sucks, there are some salvageable pieces in there.

"Em!" my brother Damian comes tearing into my room, "Come on! Dinner's ready!"

I smile, shutting my laptop and putting it on my desk. "I'm coming, Damian. Just hold on…"

"Suit yourself," he says, "But there's ham and mashed potatoes out there and they're not waiting for you!"

I laugh, "I know!" My brother just loves to eat.

He takes back off through the hallway.

I open my laptop again, saving my writing on Microsoft Word and finally shutting my computer down.

Then I calmly walk back out to the kitchen where my family sits at the table, sliding glass door open to let some fresh air in as we eat.

"There you are, Emily. You shouldn't be sitting in your room all day," my Mom says, and my Dad nods in agreement.

I smile slightly, "Fine. Please pass me the ham."

My brother holds out the plate, suddenly jerking it away when I reach out to take it.

"Lol nope!" he says with a laugh.

"Damian!" I say, rolling my eyes.

"Fine, fine, fine," he says, giving me the plate, "Just having some fun."

"I know you are," I say with a laugh.

I cut up my ham and look around at my family, "What's new?" I ask, "Anything about the weird weather?"

"They're researching it now," Mom says, "They say things aren't really looking up."

"That's sad," I say, mouth full.

"They're calling for more flooding in the state of Florida and the country Mexico."

"Are they going up into Canada, too?"

"They are," Damian says, mouth full.

"That's right," Dad says, "They're saying it could be harmless."

"Weather this weird? Doubt it."

"Lotta rain," I say, mouth full, "Charlotte and I were talking about it."

"It's not just rain," Mom says, "There's been wind, too."

"Oooo, scary, wind," Damian says, finishing his food.

"Wind can be scary," Dad argues, putting his plate in the sink, "Especially if it causes a twister."

"Twisters don't hit Pennsylvania," I say matter-of-factly.

"Some can," Mom contradicts me.

"Never in my lifetime."

"Not in yours, but you're still young."

"I'm not that young, Mom. I'm seventeen. Next year I'll be off to college."

"Don't remind me," she groans, causing me to smile.

I put my plate in the sink and help Mom and Dad clear the table.

Then Damian and I go downstairs to play a video game.

"What to today?"

"What about Super Smash Brothers 7?"

"I like six better," he says, "It gets you moving a lot more."

"Ok. Even so, it doesn't matter, I'll still kill you."

"Don't think so."

He puts on his head-piece and so do I.

"Can you believe there was a time when people used controllers for this stuff?"

"I know. We still have that Wii U, the dinosaur."

He laughs, "We need to sell that."

"Won't be worth much anymore now-a-days."

"Guess so."

"Who are you choosing?" I ask.

"Dunno. Maybe Geno again."

"Do you even remember what game he's from?"

"Think it's a Mario Brothers Game. Like, a really _really _old one."

"How old?"

He shrugs, "Nineteen-ninety's. Maybe early two thousand's."

"That old? Wow…."

"He's still a pretty good fighter. Awesome final smash."

"Yeah, I know. But Geno is no match for Pit!"

"From Kid Icarus? You're joking."

"No way! I love Pit!"

"Why would you? Pit sucks!"

"He's good with a bow and arrow, Ok?"

"Yeah, sure."

"It's true."

We have no time to debate before the screen switches to our battle stage, the clock counting down from 10.

* * *

**NEIL RADNER: FLORIDA, USA**

It's normal for us to have hurricanes here. Every summer, the rain comes and some cities even get flooded.

But this summer it's not looking so great.

A company called _Capitol Weather Institution _has posted these huge domes throughout the city of Naples and Fort Myers, around the area where I live with my family in a nice house.

We've spent pretty much the whole summer indoors, my friends and I, because of the heavy rain.

There are some sunny days. When they're sunny, they're SUNNY. And we're able to go outside and have fun. There's more sun than rain, but stations are predicting that next summer will be more rain than sun.

There was only one storm that summer, and it was short but hard.

My family's always wanted to move up north, and this was the summer that we did so. We were driving when it started. The rain made the car so loud we couldn't hear each other shouting, thunder shaking the ground, lightning streaking the sky.

We kept on moving, though, through the storm, a limited amount of our possessions in the back.

Suddenly, thunder pounds and the van swerves.

"Neil! Are you Ok?"

"Fine," I say, flipping the blonde hair out of my eyes.

"We're all OK?"

"We're all fine," my Mom says, sounding relieved but still slightly panicked.

"Well I think the van's busted. We'll need to walk. Come on."

He opens the door and it swings closed again the second he lets go of it because of the wind. My Mom and I exchange a hesitant look, but follow.

We wander until we find a house… At least one sign of civilization, and that's good enough for me. I'm the only one sent through the front yard to knock on the door.

"What do you want?" is the first thing she asks upon opening the door. It takes me a while to explain the situation but she finally calls her parents and they help us a good deal: we get food to eat, beds to sleep in, and changes of clothes.

"I'm Emily," the girl who answered the door says quietly, "Emily Fletcher."

I shake her hand, "Neil."

She smiles at me and I smile back.

"I'm Damian!" her brother says, and I snap out of whatever trans I was having to shake his hand, too.

"Come, have some Mac and Cheese!" Mrs. Fletcher says, a smile on her face. I follow them out to the kitchen.

Pennsylvaina is a lot better than Florida in the weather sense. We were blessed to be able to get out of there when we did. Eventually we get an apartment in the city and I don't get to see Emily as often.

Some days are worse than others, but overall the weather is still fairly normal.

* * *

We meet again in college.

Emily has sure changed a lot. She's taller, skinnier, and even more beautiful.

"Neil! Is that you?!" she asks with a grin.

"Hi Emily!"

She runs over and hugs me, "So fancy seeing you here!"

"It is," I say with a grin.

"I'm so happy to see you!" she says happily.

"Me too!"

"We need to catch…" She trails off, both of us lost in each other's eyes.

"Catch up?"

"Y…Yeah… Catch up…"

"I… Have to… Get to class…"

"Y…Yeah… Me too."

She kisses my cheek, "We'll talk later, Neil."

"For sure."

She writes her phone number on my hand and runs off.

* * *

Our first date was on a crystal clear night, and I took her outside to chase fireflies.

"Look at the fireflies," I whisper with a smile.

"I know. Do you have a lot of these back home?"

"Not a lot. Not as much you do here."

She laughs, "I was never really an outdoorsy kind of person."

"Well take a look. The bugs are so pretty. You know, my Dad always told me that fireflies can all represent light in a dark situation."

"Oh really?" she asks sarcastically. I roll my eyes.

"I mean, when something really bad happens, there's always something there to help. A glimmer of hope within the darkness."

"You think?" she asks.

"I do. Like, when our car crashed. That's when I met you," I whisper, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Oh, Neil… That was beautiful," she says with a smile.

"Just like you," I add.

She lightly smacks my arm, "Shut up!"

"I'm not joking."

"Well you're very handsome yourself."

I laugh, "Well, we both like each other. Why are we waiting so long to say it?"

"I don't know," she whispers, taking a firefly on her knuckle, "I'm just really shy, that's all."

"Well don't be. You don't have to be."

"Thanks Neil." She smiles, "I love you."

And that's when the storm begins.

* * *

Urgent warnings from CWI immediately flicker across the television as the wind picks up.

"In the basement! Now!" Emily's parents send us downstairs.

"What about my parents!?" I ask hurriedly, "What about-"

"No time! Damian says, "Neil, you have to stay here!"

I sigh, "But Mom and Dad-"

"Please don't go!" Emily says, holding on to my sleeve, "They'll be fine, I just know it."

I put my head down and sit again. Guess we'll have to live through this together.

* * *

The tornado destroyed the surrounding area. My parents were never found among the ravage. Rescue efforts have been made but it seems that every part of the world has been destroyed by natural disasters. Everyone has their own problems to deal with. They're saying that the southern African plain has had an epidemic of a new deadly disease. And the wildlife is slowly dying. Remmy, the last ever polar bear, is kept in captivity in the North Pole, but as soon as he's gone, the polar bears are all dead.

Anyways, natural disasters. They're terrible.

I move into the Fletcher's basement and Damian soon finds a girl for himself. Soon the city is rebuilt for now but it isn't as great as it was.

Soon Emily and I get married and move in together. The weather got better for a slight period of time but soon just got worse.

One night, I'm sitting outside quietly. She sits outside next to me.

"Neil," she whispers.

"Huh?"

"Guess what?"

"What?"

"We're pregnant."

"We are!?"

She laughs, "We are!"

I throw my arms around her and smile, "This is great! I can't believe it!"

"Me neither! You and I are going to be parents!"

I smile, "Us, parents… Wow…"

"Isn't it amazing?"

"It is!"

I kiss her and we both grin.

Then a firefly flutters up and lands on my wrist.

"Hope in the dark situations?"

She smiles, "That's a lot of good hope."

* * *

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm trying to do something different for once (slip out of my box for once...) so if you like it PLEASE say so or else I'll probably retire it... So please tell me what you think, thanks! :)**_


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